Wojdan Ali Siraj ad-Din Shaherkhani ( Arabic: وجدان علي سراج الدين شهرخاني , born February 1, 1996 , Mecca ) is a heavyweight Saudi judoka participant in the London Summer Olympics. Together with runner Sarah Attar is the first athlete of Saudi Arabia, admitted to participate in international competitions
| Vzdan Shaherkhani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| general information | |
| Citizenship |  Saudi Arabia |
| Date of Birth | February 1, 1996 (23 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Mecca , Saudi Arabia |
| Floor | |
| Weight category | heavy (up to 80 kg) |
Content
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 London Olympics
- 2 notes
- 3 References
Biography
Vodzdan Shaherkhani was born on February 1, 1996 in Mecca . Since her father was a judo referee, she joined this sport from early childhood and at the age of fourteen she also began to fight [1] [2] .
London Olympics
Along with the runner Sarah Attar Shaherkhani became the first woman to go to the Olympic Games from Saudi Arabia - until now, Saudi athletes were strictly forbidden to participate in any sports competitions [3] [4] [5] .
A sixteen-year-old girl at that time had no competitive practice, did not consist in international ratings, nor in continental, nor even in regional ones. She got to the Games at the special invitation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - usually such invitations are issued to the champions of national championships, but an exception was made for Shaherkhani, since national championships for women in Saudi Arabia were simply never held. If all the other participants in the Olympics had black judo belts , then Shahirkhani had only blue [6] [1] .
The public of Saudi Arabia took such initiatives with indignation and condemnation, however, the government of the country, under constant pressure from IOC officials and international human rights activists, was forced to make concessions - otherwise Saudi sports would face serious sanctions, in particular Saudi athletes would not be allowed to the next Olympic Games. Officially, the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee allowed women to participate in competitions only in June, and they only had about two weeks to prepare. At the same time, they were ordered to behave in accordance with Sharia law while in London: dress modestly, go out in public only accompanied by male guards and not enter into relations with extraneous men. The then President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, commented on the forced inclusion of Shaherkhani and Attar in the list of participants as follows: “The IOC worked very closely with the Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia, and I am glad that our long-term dialogue proved fruitful” [5] .
On July 30, Shaherkhani announced that she would refuse to go on the mat if she was forbidden to wear a hijab during fights. Her father, who usually spoke with the press instead (because she did not speak English), said in an interview that his daughter wants to speak, they intend to “open a new page in the history of Saudi Arabia”, but speaking without a hijab is impossible. The next day, the IOC and the International Judo Federation announced that the situation was resolved, the girl was allowed to wear a hijab during the performance, however, the design of the headgear was agreed upon separately and, according to the results of the negotiations, took on an atypical shape: it looked more like a fitting hat than a usual scarf wound around the neck and covering the lower part of the head [7] [8] .
As a result, Vodzdan Shaherkhani held only one match at the London Olympics , already in the opening match, on August 3, in the 1/32 finals of the heavy weight category, she was defeated by Puerto Rican judoka Melissa Mohiki . Their fight lasted 82 seconds, this is the second shortest heavyweight match after the match between Japanese Mika Sugimoto and Brazilian Maria Suen Altiman, which ended in 48 seconds. After losing, Shaherkhani, in communication with reporters, noted the following: “I am happy that I got to the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, we were not able to win the medal, but in the future we will certainly achieve this, I will contribute to this with my own example. ” In addition, she said that the unsuccessful performance was due to the lack of experience in participating in such large tournaments, and also that the debate about wearing the hijab negatively affected her performance - this prevented her from concentrating on the competitions [9] .
In Saudi Arabia, the women's Olympic judo tournament was not broadcast on television, although the inhabitants of the kingdom still had the opportunity to see the performance of their compatriot on satellite cable channels in other Arab countries. At home, the fact that girls participated in the Olympics was accompanied by public censure, the mainstream media tried not to advertise this fact at all, while on blogs and social networks the participants were sharply criticized, the athletes were called "Olympic prostitutes." Father Shaherkhani even had to turn to the Minister of the Interior with a request to punish those who insult his daughter [10] .
At the Olympics, Wojdan Shaherkhani announced her desire to continue practicing judo and compete, although according to JudoInside.com she did not take part in major international tournaments anymore, and the duel in London remains the only one in her sports career [11] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Associated Press . Saudi women's Olympic judo bout over in 82 seconds , Times Union (August 3, 2012).
- ↑ Associated Press . London 2012: Saudi Arabia's 1st female judo athlete loses bout in 82 seconds , Toronto Star (August 3, 2012).
- ↑ India & The Olympics . The Sports Campus. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on February 5, 2013.
- ↑ Saudi Arabia joins Brunei Darussalam and Qatar in sending female athletes to London 2012 . Bahrain Chronicle. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived January 17, 2013.
- ↑ 1 2 Pilon, Mary Two Female Athletes Will Compete for Saudi Arabia . New York Times . Date of treatment July 14, 2012.
- ↑ London 2012: don't forget most Saudi women are banned from sport | Eman Al Nafjan Neopr . The Guardian (February 14, 2012). Date of treatment July 14, 2012.
- ↑ Branded prostitutes Saudi's women Olympians still play ball (July 28, 2012). Date of treatment October 18, 2012.
- ↑ Saudis hail women in Olympic parade (July 29, 2012). Date of treatment October 18, 2012.
- ↑ Agence French-Presse . 82 ثانية تاريخية للسعودية شهرخاني ("Eighty-two Historic Seconds for Saudi-Arabian Woman Shahrkhani") (August 3, 2012). Date of treatment August 3, 2012. (unavailable link)
- ↑ Saudi Olympic athletes as a matter of hatred (August 13, 2012). Date of treatment December 26, 2015.
- ↑ WODJAN SHAHRKHANI - JUDOKA
Links
- Vodzhan Shaherkhani - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
- Vodzhan Shaherkhani - profile on judoinside.com